All is well again after the 8,000 Buddhas
It’s funny how quickly things can change while travelling, from good to bad or bad to good. Yesterday I was ready to get out of Kalaw and move on to the next town. Then I met some cool people in the afternoon, plans were made, and I’m now staying here another 2 days. The best thing about it though is that I feel excited to be travelling again!
Yesterday afternoon it was raining and I was sitting at the guesthouses doing nothing, just watching BBC, when 2 Israeli girls arrived (from Yangon) and started asking me about trekking options, etc. We decided to talk to the owner of the guesthouse, Lily, and her brother about guides, routes, and prices. They were interested in doing an overnight trip (2 days) and it sounded great to me because I had wanted to do a trek but didn’t feel like doing it on my own. Also, I was expecting some of the people I had met at Inle Lake to show up and I was going to see what they were doing and then decide to stay or go or what. The Israeli girls were so nice though and the more we were talking the more I thought yeah it would be good to go with them.
A little while later the Inle Lake crew showed up – the Australian girl, the Spanish girl, the Portugese girl, and this Irish guy who I had met my first night in Yangon. That is really one of the nice things about travelling in Myanmar, that there are not a lot of people going through and the circuit of places to see is pretty limited (mostly because the government won’t allow tourists into a lot of places), and so you wind up seeing the same people over and over again.
Anyway, it was good to see some familiar faces. And it sounds like I fared out a bit better on my pickup ride if you can believe that. The four of them also took a pickup from Inle Lake and not only did they pay more than me but it rained the whole time AND they had 2 flat tires! Even worse, their backpacks were on the roof and someone opened the Portugese girl’s backpack and stole her shampoo, soap, and toiletries bag. What a bummer. I had my bag on the roof for my ride as well but my bag was locked, luckily. It just sucks because you can’t replace things like a toothbrush or face cream with the kind you had before in a country like Myanmar. Mostly it’s just frustrating because it gives you a bad taste for the people and that’s really a shame. We were all happy for her that it was not passports or money of course.
Last night I went out to dinner with the 2 Israeli girls and some other people from our guesthouse – a Slovenian couple, an Israeli couple, and a Canadian guy. Good time.
In the end the Inle Lake crew decided to do a 3-day trek and I decided to join the Israeli girls on a 2-day trek. We decided to start our trek tomorrow and today the three of us went to see the 8,000 Buddhas at Pindaya Caves.
This morning we got up early, had breakfast, and set out for Pindaya Caves at 7:30am. We hired a private taxi for $17 for the day. Well deserved after the pickup ride. The ride to the caves was breathtaking, rolling hills covered in farmland, locals riding bicycles, children on their way to school, clouds hanging in the valleys. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the caves. The Pindaya Cave is actually a temple built inside the cave, which houses more than 8,000 Buddha statues. As the guidebook says,’the Buddhas are made from teak, marble, brick, laquer, and cement, and have been put there over the centuries and arranged in such a way as to form a labryrinth in the various chambers.’ Well that just about says it all. Except that the cave itself is up on a mountain and from the road you can see all the stuppas around the outside and it looks like some kind of magical kingdom. And, we were the ONLY tourists there! As we walked around the caves, there was a Burmese woman who came in and sat in front of one of the main Buddhas and she started chanting and praying. Her voice echoed through the walls of the cave and it sounded incredible, really magical, as we looked at all the Buddhas around us.
The cave was the best part of the day. We saw another market on the way back; this time we decided to buy random local food and try it. We got some jack fruit and then tried about 10 different sweets – crunchy things, chewy things, balls, squares, who knows what they were, but it was interesting to try.
Then, back at the guesthouse, the three of us had tea with Lily the owner and discussed life as a woman in Myanmar. She told us about her family and the town and her personal experiences and it was all fascinatling. Then we asked her if we could try this mud-like paste that all the women use here as makeup. Turns out it’s actually a type of sandalwood, called thanakha, which is a very commonly growing wood in Myanmar. The women grind the wood on a stone with some water and use the paste to apply on their faces. We were so excited to try it! Lily and her sister were kind enough to grind some up and put it on for the three of us.
Tomorrow we leave for the trekking!
View of the stuppas from Pindaya Caves
3 of the 8,000 Buddhas
3 more of the 8,000 Buddhas – Mirit, Hadas, and me!
Add comment July 15th, 2002